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He looked sad as he crossed to his clothes, piled neatly on her chair. She watched him start to get dressed, feeling like something was very off about this. He pulled on his pants, then his shirt as quickly as he could. He didn’t seem jealous. He seemed resigned, like he knew this was going to happen.
“What iswrongwith you?” she asked.
He threaded his arms through his gun holster, picked up his shoes and his jacket, and came back to her.
“Don’t stay angry with me for too long?” he asked. His voice was unsteady and he couldn’t look at her as he brushed past.
“I wasn’t expecting you today,” Abbe said as Bianca swept in the front door of Furry Faces.
“I thought I could help out, or train, or maybe even learn how you set up your files for all the animals on your computer. I’m going to have to learn that if I’m going to work here,” Bianca said, trying to sound excited instead of desperate. She needed to do something.
Abbe returned Bianca’s kiss on the cheek, frowning as she sensed something was off with her friend. “There’s not much to do today besides play with the dogs or brush the cats,” she said. She put both her hands on Bianca’s shoulders, stopping her from rushing by. “Are you okay? You look pale.”
“I’m fine! It’s cold out, though,” Bianca said, laughing it off. “C’mon, Abbe! I want to learn how to do paperwork!”
Abbe wasn’t buying it. The more Bianca tried to pretend she was her happy-go-lucky self the quieter and more concerned Abbe became. “Rafe told me you were arrested yesterday,” she said, crossing her arms, and waiting for Bianca to come clean. “Did you and Elias have a fight about it?”
“I don’t know what we had,” Bianca admitted, all her bluster gone in an instant. “Don’t say anything to Rafe?”
“I won’t,” Abbe said. “Want to tell me about it?”
They went upstairs to groom the cats and let them play in the sunroom while Bianca explained the strange confrontation she’d had with Elias.
“The thing is, he’s asked me about House before, and hewasjealous then,” she said, finishing up. “I know what he looks like when he’s jealous. This wasn’t that. He was sad.”
Abbe shook her head, just as confused as Bianca. “Maybe he’s upset because of his case? If you’re involved in it, or a witness or whatever—sorry, I don’t know the real terms for any of this stuff—but if you’re a part of his case, you two can’t date, can you?”
Bianca thought about that. “He said we can’t, but it’s not like I’m one of the people he’s investigating. I haven’t done anything wrong.” She waved a feathery toy in front of a group of kittens, who all leapt at it. “Except maybe get into the wrong car.”
“I don’t know what the FBI’s rules are,” Abbe said, lifting a shoulder. “I think he wants you to stay out of it for a bunch of reasons.”
“I am so out of it!” Bianca promised, waving the toy around and smiling at the kittens. “I’m a terrible detective, anyway.”
“You keep getting arrested,” Abbe commented with a lopsided smile.
Bianca spent the rest of the afternoon with Abbe at the shelter, taking one of her online classes in the office. She was walking outside toward her waiting car and driver when she got a Blocked Caller notification on her phone. Thinking it was Elias, she picked up immediately.
“Don’t get in the car just yet,” said a voice she didn’t recognize.
Bianca stopped walking. “Who is this?” She glanced around. Whoever was calling her was watching her, too.
“Aw, you don’t remember me? I remember you. I had a crush on you forever.”
Bianca scoured her memory, but came up blank. “Seriously. Who is this?” She looked around until she saw a guy sitting behind the wheel of a black Lamborghini SUV parked up the road.
He waved at her. “It’s Ben Goh.”
“I know, couldn’t believe it! I was just driving by, and I saw you there. Then I remembered I owed you a phone call, so I pulled over,” Ben said enthusiastically. “I wasn’t even supposed to be in Wellesley today.”
Bianca still wasn’t quite sure how she’d ended up going out for coffee with Ben Goh. It had happened while they were on the phone. He’d told her to meet him at the place up the street, then he’d started his car, and hung up on her. She’d had no choice but to meet him.
“You haven’t changed a bit,” he said.
They moved ahead in line at the Chipped Mug, the hissing sound of the milk steamer and the growling of the espresso maker momentarily interrupting their conversation. The café was busy and the added distraction gave Bianca a chance to gather her thoughts. They had taken separate cars there, and Bianca’s driver was anxiously watching her through the front window. This was definitely something that was going to get back to her brothers.
“Yeah, I called because I was looking for Eden,” Bianca said.
“Haven’t seen her,” Ben replied, shuffling forward in line. “I’ll have a vanilla latte,” he said to the girl behind the counter. He turned to Bianca so she could order.
